South by Southwest (SXSW) realized that canceling two panels at its upcoming annual event was a mistake and has then made an apology for such action.
The two panels were reportedly aimed at discussing the issues on online harassment and the infamous culture known as "GamerGate" in the video game industry. According to SXSW, the decision to cancel was arrived at following the numerous threats of violence that it has received in relation to the event.
"While we made the decision in the interest of safety for all of our attendees, cancelling sessions was not an appropriate response," said SXSW. "We have been working with the authorities and security experts to determine the best way to proceed."
Panelists from the event, including women's rights advocates and two media groups have all criticized the decision of SXSW to cancel, claiming that it only gave power to those who issued the threats and that it encouraged future harassment. Likewise, BuzzFeed and Vox Media had both threatened to skip the entirety of the event if the canceled panels are not reinstated.
The all-day annual event which is scheduled for March 12 will feature Brianna Wu, Monika Bickert (product policy head at Facebook) and Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.
All in all, the summit has a lineup of 20 speakers.
Randi Harper, one of the organizers of the previously canceled panel called "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games," turned to Twitter to express her concern.
At this time, my panel, Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games, is not confirmed to be a part of the Online Harassment Summit at SXSW.
— Randi Lee Harper (@randileeharper) October 30, 2015
Harper's tweet is then responded to by another Twitter user Callum who tweeted:
@randileeharper Yes giving people the opportunity to defend themselves is bullshit. — Callum (@four0twenty) October 30, 2015
Aminatou Sow, co-founder of Tech LadyMafia, said that the success of the summit will depend largely on its organizers and how much they are willing to support women in the tech field.
"It will be critical for them to take time to address the mistakes they made in the lead-up to the event," said Sow. "Too often, harassment is blamed solely on online trolls. But what also needs to be discussed is the entire tech industry's role in minimizing women's experiences both on and offline."
